Refrigerator



Jan. 29, 1935. w G SEEGER Er A 1,989,158"

REFRIGERATOR Filed Jan. 9, 1930 2 sheets-sheet 2 WWI/liar 6? $0696? Gustave R1. eeger Patented Jam 29, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE REFRIGERATOR Walter G. Seegerand Gustave B. Seeger, St. Paul,

Minn., assignors to Seeger Refrigerator Company, St. Paul, Minn, a corporation of Minrefrigerator inner and outer metallic members are adapted to be connected in such a manner 5 that the transmission of heat therebetween is effectively prevented. This breaker strip structure also prevents and tends to overcome the collecting of moisture around the refrigerator closures.

In present forms of refrigerators the lining is made of metal which may be enameled with a porcelain or vitreous enamel or other materials so as to coat the same, and may be lacquered, plated, or left without a coating. The outer casing of the refrigerator is also made of metal which may also be coated, enameled orv left in its natural finish to provide a smooth finish insideand out over the entire outside of the refrigerator. The lining and outer casing portions are connected by our breaker strip or joint at the closure or door openings and this joint also makes a suitable seat or stop against which the door or closure may engage to provide a tight joint between the body of the refrigerator and the door or closure. The refrigerator of our construction may be made of metal or other material so that there are no exposed wooden or non-metallic parts, excepting the gasket portions and our breaker strip is designed to accomplish these results, providing a means of connecting the inner and outer enameled portions of the refrigerator to break the conductivity between these parts.

The joint between the inner lining and the outer casing of our refrigerator is formed with overlapping clamping members which are enameled to provide a continuation of the finish of the inner and the outer enameled metal portions so as to form a joint which may be easily wiped off and kept clean and which is not susceptible to moistureor affected thereby. The joint is made up of the clamping members which extend on either side of the edges of the inner and outer portions which form the inner lining and the outer casing of our refrigerator and interposed between these clamping members we provide non-metallic insulating portions or strips to provide the method of joining two pieces of metal in a non-conducting way, particularly adapted for refrigerators. The insulating material may be made of asbestos, rubber, or any substance which is a non-conductor of heat, and which may be impervious to moisture.

The invention further includes overlapping clamping strips which rigidly clamp the edges of the lining and the outer casing tightly together 1930, Serial No. 419,522

to form a sealed joint which overcomes the conductivity in the manner set forth.

These features, together with other objects and details will be more fully and clearly set forth in the specification and claims.

In the drawings forming part of our specification:

Figure 1 illustrates a transverse cross section through our refrigerator.

Figure 2 is an enlarged sectional detail of a corner of the refrigerator, showing a portion of the closure or door 'in closed position.-

Figure 3 is an enlarged section of the comer of our refrigerator, showing another construction of the joint or breaker strip.

Figure 4 is an enlarged section at the corner of our refrigerator, showing a further form of joint used to connect the inner and outer portions of the refrigerator.

In the drawings our refrigerator A may be of any suitable design or construction and we have illustrated simply a portion of the refrigerator which shows the body with an outer porcelain enamel casing, such as 10, made of metal, covered with a vitreous or porcelain enamel and an inner lining 11 which is also made of metal and which is covered with a porcelain or vitreous enamel.

The body of the refrigerator may be made of any shape or design and the space between the outer casing 10 and the inner lining 11 may be filled with a-cork or other insulating material, such-as 12, to provide a refrigerating chamber 13 within the refrigerator A.

A suitable closure or door B is provided which is formed with an outer porcelain enameled metal covering 14 and an inner porcelain enameled metal covering 15. The portions 14 and 15 are finished with a'vitreous or porcelain enamel the same as the portions 10 and 11 or in any-other suitable finish. We provide our refrigerator with a breaker strip or joint C which is constructed to prevent conductivity of heat from the portions 10 to the portions 11 or from the outside to the inside of the refrigerator, 'or from the inside to the outer-portion of the refrigerator. This joint is made up of a series of clamping strips which are connected together and in Figure 2 we have illustrated the inner clamping strip 16 which is channel shaped and which is provided with outer longitudinally extending flange portions 1'7 on either side of the channel of the member 16, the purpose of which will be more fully described. The outer clamping strip 18 is also channel shaped in the joint C and is formed with inwardly extending longitudinal side portions 19 which are adapted to cover outwardly projecting flanges 20 and 21. The flange 20 is formed on the edge of the lining portion about the opening of the refrigerator and the'flange 21 is formed on the outer casing 10 of the refrigerator.

In placing the channel clamping strips 16 and 18 over the edges 20 and 21 we place insulating strips 22 and 23 inia position to extend overeither side of the flanges 20 and 21. Then by means of a suitable clamping bolt 24 the clamping strips 16 and 18 are drawn tightly together,

pinching the edge flanges 20 and 21 rigidly'be-'" tween the insulating layers or strips 22 and 23.11. The side flanges 19 are short enough so aslnot-s to contact with eitherthe outer casing 10 or the" inner lining 11, and thus the edge flanges 20 and 21 are buried in the insulating material clamped or buried firmly between the clampingmembers 16 and 18. This provides a breaker strip'or joint C having a non-conductivity of heat or cold and a virtually overcomes sweating around the door openings of the refrigerator A or the conducting of the warm air into the refrigerator chamber 13-. The insulating strips or portions 22 and 23 may be made of any suitable material, such as rubber, asbestos, fibre, or any other non-conductive material which may be impervious to moisture. This structure provides a joint C where the channel portions, particularly the outer portion 18, may be covered with a porcelain or vitreous enamel so as to conform with the finish on either the inner lining 11 or the outer casing 10 of the refrigerator, and we thereby provide an all metal refrigerator structure which is more sanitary than where wooden breaker strips are used and which is virtually indestructible under ordinary care. A refrigerator constructed with a joint of this nature provides a most desirable means of connecting the inner and outer portions together, overcoming any of the disadvantages that may arise where the metal lining and metal outer shell is used.

The invention includes the method of joining two pieces of metal to form a joint for refrigerators wherein inner and outer clamping members are employed which are adapted to overlie the edges of-the portions-of metal to be joined and having interposed between the clamping members and the edges being joined together, non-metallic sheet material or portions which embed the edges of the portions being connected to rigidly clamp the same together with a breaker strip or breaker joint, overcoming any conductivity from one portion of metal to the other. The method of carrying out our invention is important as it accomplishes a very desirable result in the present forms or construction of refrigerators where metal linings and outer 'metal coverings are used.

In Figure 3 we have illustrated the breaker joint C which connects the inner lining 11 with the outer casing 10.where the outer clamping member 18 is'of the same structure as illustrated in Figure 2, having inwardly extending side walls or flanges 19. However, in this structure the inner clamping member 16 is formed with one horizontal longitudinal flange 17, while the other side of the channel 16' is formed with a straight long inwardly extending side flange 25. This providesa construction where the inner clamping channel 16 may be inserted in position and clamped together with the outer channel 18 by suitable clamping bolts 24. The insulating sheets or strips 22 and 23 are employed in the same manner in this joint as hereinbefore described to ture of our joint C for connecting the lining 11 a with the outer casing 10 of our refrigerator A, showing the flange edges'20. and 21 embedded between the insulating sheets 22 and 23. In this a-form the irmer channel 16" is formed with only .one,longitudinal horizontal flange 17 while the 'other'side is straight and fits adjacent the flange -20. Theouter clamping channel 18 is the same In each case the clamping bolts 24 may be threaded into the inner channel 16. This permits the channels 16 and 18 to be clamped firmly together tobury the edge flanges 20 and 21 solidly in the insulating strips 22 and 23 and to form a joint of a very desirable nature'having a nonconductivity of heat which is desirable for refrigerators, yet providing an enameled breaker strip C of the same nature as the inner and outer surfaces of the refrigerator.

The breaker strip C may form the meeting rail for the door B and the inner gasket member 26 of the door B may rest against the meeting rail or breaker strip C to form an inner tight joint while the outer gasket strip 27 is adapted to provide a means of forming a tight joint against the outer surface or porcelain enamel 10 of the outer casing of the refrigerator A. The door structure is of an all metal porcelain enameled nature and the outer portion 14 is insulated from the rabbet connector 28 by the insulating gasket strip 27. The bolts 29 hold the outer portion 14 to the rabbet connector 28.

The inner enameled sheet 15 of the door B is insulated from the rabbet connector 28- by the gasket member 26 and these parts are connected together by the bolts 30. Thus we provide a door structure made entirely of metal, porcelain enameled, to match up with the outer and inner enameled portions of the refrigerator A and we provide a breaker strip means between therabbet connection 28 and the outer casing 14 and the inner casing 15. Thus the refrigerator A is provided with a non-conducting connector means between the lining and the outer casing, and the closures or doors are also provided with a nonthat obvious changes and adaptations may be' made within the scope of the following claims without departing from the spirit, purpose and intent of the invention.

We claim:

1. A joint for connecting the inner and outer enameled coverings for a refrigerator including, an inner clamping channel, an outer clamping channel, insulated means between each of said channels and said covering, edge flanges on said inner and outer coverings adapted to be engaged by the said insulated means, and bolt means for drawing said inner and outer channel members together with the insulating sheet means and edge flanges therebetween to provide a non-conducting joint for refrigerators.

2. A connecting joint for the inner and outer enameled metal coverings for refrigerators including, an inner clamping channel, an outer clamping channel, insulating non-conducting material between said channel members, and means for gripping the edges of the inner and outer enamel coverings of the refrigerator embedded in said insulating material between said gripping channels.

3. A non-conducting joint for refrigerator parts including, channel members, insulating means positioned between said channel members, inner and outer refrigerator coverings, edges thereon, and means for holding the edges of the inner and outer refrigerator coverings embedded in said insulating means with said channel members clamped together to form a joint of a non-' between the base of said channel and the ends of said flanges.

5. A refrigerator including, a pair of metal sheets, spaced edge flanges on said sheets, a channel member, a strip of insulating material extending entirely between said channel member and said flanges, a member extending behind said sheets, and securing means adapted todraw said channel toward said member extending behind said sheets.

6. A connection between a pair of plates including, spaced parallel edge flanges on said plates, a channel member adapted to'enclose said parallel flanges, a strip of insulation extending entirely between said channel and said flanges, and a second strip of insulation extending between said spaced flanges.

'7. A connection between a pair of sheets including, spaced edges thereupon, a pair of channel shaped clamping members, and a pair of insulating strips, one of said insulating strips extending between one channel member and one side of said edges and the other insulating strip extending between the other channel member and the other side of said edges.

8. A refrigerator including. inner and outer metal coverings, outturned substantially parallel edges thereupon, an externally removable'metal connecting strip between said inner and outer coverings enclosing said edges, means insulating said edges from said connecting strip, and means for insulating the inner covering from said outer covering in a manner to prevent heat being conducted by said covering members one to the other.

WALTER G. SEEGER. G. R. SEEGER. 

